March/April 1984 RAIN Page 3 r. ■ . . : ■ ■ . ■ • '« ■ LETTERS Dear Rain, Choose your own title: the message reads the same. Life is a gift, and only the power of love allows us to linger a little longer on this jewel of a planet. But there are those who persist in promoting lawpassing as a shield against tyranny, violence, and hate. In his article “Creating Nuclear Free Communities" (RAIN X:2), Don Skinner outlines the experience of Ashland residents in effectively passing a nonnuclear ordinance. The federal government, of course, is not bound by such a puny ordinance, as Skinner admits. So what is the point? "The process of becoming an NFZ brought with it a satisfying sense that we live in a community that was willing to say 'NO' to the nuclear industry and was ready to begin an examination of constructive alternatives." Sounds convincing, until one considers that a sense of community must be based on love and cannot be legislated. Law makes a weak crutch for moral disability, and so the NFZ movement becomes at best a harmless diversion, at worst institutionalized hypocrisy. Playing the devil's game on his home court does not seem a very insightful means of "examining constructive alternatives." Don't be confused by the clamor for new laws to protect us. We must see clearly that moral choice, not trivial legislation, is the issue. We need to declare daily a demilitarized zone in our hearts and in our lives. A zone of peace within ourselves, in our relations with others, and with the earth where love is in control, where hate and violence find no quarter. I appreciate the range of views presented in RAIN. Keep up the good work. I'd like to see more articles about people living peacefully. Larry and Marge Warning Oysterville, Washington Dear Folks, I recently obtained a copy of your tenth-year anniversary issue (RAIN IX:6) and have enjoyed reading through it very much. Paul Cameron Durham, North Carolina Dear RAIN, I've really enjoyed your anniversary issue; found it very inspirational. Marc Kolmon Chapel Hill, North Carolina RAINDROPS It hasn't rained much since I recycled myself back to RAIN, but it has been cold. For a few golden afternoons I basked in the warm sunshine streaming through the windows, though. Ah, renewable energy! Speaking of recycling people and renewing energy, we want your contributions. We're developing a couple of networks; One, a network of knowledgeable people around the country who can recommend and review books and other materials of interest to RAIN readers; the other, a network of people around the country who are information brokers in their communities and can send us periodic reports on what's going on in the provinces (see also the introduction to the Northwest Bioregion Report). Write me a letter or postcard if you're interested. If you send us material to publish, make sure it fits the general style and format of RAIN. Avoid the passive voice (say "The authors describe . . ." rather than "It is described ..."). Type it doublespaced with wide margins and, if you want us to return it, be sure to include a self-addressed envelope with sufficient postage. For reviews, include the title, author, year published, number of pages, price, and name and address of the publisher. Tell us what the book is about and why it's special. The shorter, the better. Also, tell us what you do and why you're special. If we print what you've written, we'll send you goodies in the mail: six months of RAIN for a review or short piece; for an article, five copies of the issue it appears in, a one-year subscription to RAIN, a copy of Knowing Home, and either a one- eighth-page display ad or a 100-word classified ad. The deadline for submissions is the first day of every odd month (March 1 for the May/June issue). If you know about cataloging or organizing books and periodicals, and you want to do that sort of thing in Portland for at least three months, we'd love to hear from you. We're bursting at the seams with information. We also need business students who are interested in promotion and advertising and are willing to work for $40 a week for at least three months. (Contact Rob Baird at Rain.) Some of you will receive two copies of RAIN this month. It's intentional: We learned from our readers' survey that people learn about RAIN from friends, so we'd like you to pass on that extra copy to a friend. Also, tell all your friends how much you love RAIN, give RAIN subscriptions and posters as gifts, and send us names of people we can send sample copies to (for every list of at least 10 names and for every friend you recommend who subscribes, we'll extend your subscription by two issues). We're also interested in donations of services or supplies. Recently, one kind person donated a pickup truck to the resource center! We'd like to have a couple of correcting electric typewriters. Right now, all we have left are borrowed machines: our last IBM had a nervous breakdown—electrical problems—in the middle of copy deadline for this issue. We could also use a photocopying machine— it would save us innumerable trips downtown and elsewhere, in our drive to reproduce whatever we write. By the way, don't miss our contest announcement on page 2. —TK
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